Method and automatic control systems for determining a gap in traffic between two vehicles for a lane change of a vehicle

1. A method for determining a gap in traffic between at least one transportation vehicle and a further transportation vehicle that is suitable for a lane change of the transportation vehicle, the method being performed under control of a control module implemented using at least one computer processor in the transportation vehicle, the method comprising: performing a gap identification process to identify the gap in traffic, wherein the gap identification process is based on a first detection process, a second detection process, and a third detection process, wherein the first detection process is based on at least one vehicle-to-vehicle status message received by the transportation vehicle from at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein vehicle-to-vehicle status message includes information relating to a position and/or a trajectory of the at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the second detection process is based on data generated by an on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle, wherein the third detection process is based on vehicle-to-vehicle messages containing environmental information from the at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the environmental information is based on sensor recordings of an environment of the at least one further transportation vehicle generated by at least one on-board sensor of the at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the gap identification process wherein the vehicle-to-vehicle messages including environmental information include information that indicates road areas which are occupied by transportation vehicles and free road areas, wherein the gap identification process uses the environmental information to construct a virtual field of view or virtual sensor coverage from a combination of sensor data from the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle in the second detection process and the sensor data from the at least one further transportation vehicle in the third detection process, whereby, the gap identification process is performed for positions which are accessible by viewpoints of sensors of the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle and for viewpoints concealed from sensor view points of the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle; and in response to ascertaining that the gap identification process does not identify a gap in traffic, transmitting a driving intention message from the at least one transportation vehicle to at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the driving intention message includes an item of information relating to a future lane change request of the transportation vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one vehicle-to-vehicle status message comprises information relating to the position and/or the trajectory of the at least one further transportation vehicle.

3. A method for controlling the transportation vehicle including the method for determining the gap in traffic of claim 1 , wherein the method longitudinally controls the transportation parallel to the identified gap in traffic and/or laterally control s the transportation vehicle by a lane change parallel to the identified gap in traffic.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the longitudinal control corresponds to controlling a speed or a position of the transportation vehicle in the direction of travel, and/or wherein the longitudinal control comprises providing a speed/time profile for an adaptive cruise control system, or wherein the longitudinal control comprises displaying a longitudinal control aid for a driver of the transportation vehicle, or wherein the transportation vehicle corresponds to an automatically moving transportation vehicle, and wherein the longitudinal control corresponds to longitudinally controlling the automatically moving transportation vehicle based on the identified gap in traffic.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the lateral control corresponds to controlling a position of the transportation vehicle transversely with respect to the direction of travel, and/or wherein the lateral control is carried out when the longitudinal control has positioned the transportation vehicle parallel to the identified gap in traffic, and/or wherein the lateral control comprises a driver-initiated automated lane change, or wherein the lateral control comprises displaying a lateral control aid for a driver of the transportation vehicle, or wherein the transportation vehicle corresponds to an automatically moving transportation vehicle, and wherein the lateral control corresponds to laterally controlling the automatically moving transportation vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a driving intention of a driver of the transportation vehicle with respect to the lane change.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising transmitting the driving intention message based on the detection of the driving intention.

8. A method for a transportation vehicle, the method being performed under control of a control module implemented using at least one computer processor in the transportation vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a driving intention message containing a lane change request for a future lane change from a requesting transportation vehicle, wherein the driving intention message comprises an item of information relating to a future lane change request of the transportation vehicle; ascertaining an item of information relating to cooperation in a cooperative driving maneuver with the requesting transportation vehicle based on a merging request required for the lane change request, wherein the ascertained item of information relating to the cooperation indicates whether the transportation vehicle is possible as a cooperation partner and whether a cooperative behavior is possible taking into account a traffic situation based on the received driving intention message; determining information relating to a driving maneuver by ascertaining information relating to at least one distance to a leading transportation vehicle and/or a trailing transportation vehicle to calculate whether the merging request is able to be complied with in a possible cooperation area, wherein the at least one distance pertains to a gap in traffic required to perform the merging request, wherein the information relating to the cooperative driving maneuver is determined based on information included in the received driving intention message and based on information generated by an on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle, which both relate to at least one distance, a speed of the transportation vehicle and a distance to the possible cooperation area; ascertaining the cooperative driving maneuver to be performed based on the information relating to the cooperative driving maneuver; calculating whether the ascertained cooperative driving maneuver is possible taking into account the traffic situation; interchanging vehicle-to-vehicle coordination messages for coordinating the cooperative driving maneuver with the at least one further transportation vehicle; and providing driving assistance to perform the cooperative driving maneuver.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the process of providing the driving assistance corresponds to automated or semi-automated performance of the driving maneuver, or wherein the process of providing the driving assistance corresponds to a process of providing advice for carrying out the driving maneuver for a driver of the transportation vehicle via a human-machine interface.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the providing process also comprises providing a message relating to an acceptance of the lane change request for the requesting transportation vehicle and the at least one further transportation vehicle, and/or wherein, the ascertaining process, the determining process and/or the providing process is/are aborted in response to a message relating to an acceptance of the lane change request being received from the at least one further transportation vehicle.

11. A control system for a transportation vehicle, the control system comprising a control module implemented using at least one computer processor in the transportation vehicle being configured to: identify a gap in traffic between two transportation vehicles based on a first detection process, a second detection process, and a third detection process, wherein the first detection process is based on at least one vehicle-to-vehicle status message from at least one further transportation vehicle wherein vehicle-to-vehicle status message includes information relating to a position and/or a trajectory of the at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the second detection process is based on data generated by an on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle, wherein the third detection process is based on vehicle-to-vehicle messages containing environmental information from the at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the environmental information is based on sensor recordings of an environment of the at least one further transportation vehicle generated by at least one on-board sensor of the at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the gap identification process wherein the vehicle-to-vehicle messages including environmental information include information that indicates road areas which are occupied by transportation vehicles and free road areas, wherein the gap identification process uses the environmental information to construct a virtual field of view or virtual sensor coverage from a combination of sensor data from the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle in the second detection process and the sensor data from the at least one further transportation vehicle in the third detection process, whereby, the gap identification process is performed for positions which are accessible by viewpoints of sensors of the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle and for viewpoints concealed from sensor view points of the on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle; in response to ascertaining that the gap identification process does not identify a gap in traffic, transmit a driving intention message from the at least one transportation vehicle to at least one further transportation vehicle, wherein the driving intention message includes an item of information relating to a future lane change request of the transportation vehicle; longitudinally control the transportation vehicle parallel to the identified gap in traffic; and laterally control the transportation vehicle by a lane change parallel to the identified gap in traffic.

12. A control system for a transportation vehicle, the control system comprising a control module implemented using at least one computer processor in the transportation vehicle being configured to: receive a driving intention message containing a lane change request for a future lane change from a requesting transportation vehicle, wherein the driving intention message comprises an item of information relating to a future lane change request of the transportation vehicle; ascertain an item of information relating to cooperation in a cooperative driving maneuver with the requesting transportation vehicle based on a merging request required for the lane change request, wherein the ascertained item of information relating to the cooperation indicates whether the transportation vehicle is possible as a cooperation partner and whether a cooperative behavior is possible taking into account a traffic situation based on the received driving intention message; determining information relating to a driving maneuver by ascertaining information relating to at least one distance to a leading transportation vehicle and/or a trailing transportation vehicle to calculate whether the merging request is able to be complied with in a possible cooperation area, wherein the at least one distance pertains to a gap in traffic required to perform the merging request, wherein the information relating to the cooperative driving maneuver is determined based on information included in the received driving intention message and based on information generated by an on-board sensor system of the transportation vehicle, which both relate to at least one distance, a speed of the transportation vehicle and a distance to the possible cooperation area; ascertaining the cooperative driving maneuver to be performed based on the information relating to the cooperative driving maneuver; calculating whether the ascertained cooperative driving maneuver is possible taking into account the traffic situation; interchanging vehicle-to-vehicle coordination messages for coordinating the cooperative driving maneuver with the at least one further transportation vehicle; and providing driving assistance to perform the cooperative driving maneuver.